“I shall never neglect humanity. Even in my most abstract figure ‘The Pyramids’ I took man as a starting point” Lynn once told Rungwe Kingdon of Pangolin. Many of the abstract pieces Chadwick made in the 1960s have figurative connotations; the stars can be seen as heads with a single eye and the pyramids can begin to suggest a figure or beast.

In perforating some of the pyramids, voids were created forming holes usually of tubular shape. They also carry light and our gaze through the form to the other side. In 'Monitor' he uses this directly as an all seeing eye, while in Pyramid IV the highly reflective surface breaks down the form, our own reflection and the room around us are incorporated into the form and the effect is almost a liquid one. The conical perforations break down the illusions and bring back the strength and simplicity of the sculpture. Gradually the forms became more explicitly human and bestial and transitional pieces such as Monitor III and Beast XXIV are the direct progenitors of the later stainless steel beasts where a variety of pyramids are combined to create a new animal form.

This fantastic large scale work by Lynn Chadwick shows beautifully his method of construction through fine welding of a space frame or exoskeleton that was then filled with a plaster compound called Stolit and worked to give texture. It is indicative of its time when 60's minimalism saw Chadwick refining the figure to geometric shape whilst still maintaining a strong Chadwick 'attitude'. .